visited his abode and sang in praise of Siruththondar in a decad. Siruththondar was in the habit of feeding a devotee of Siva every day before he ate and one day he was not in a position to find a devotee. Lord Siva came in the guise of a Bhairava and demanded the curry of a child if he should dine in his house: As directed by the guest, the Saint cooked his own child as curry, leaving its head uncooked. The maid servant, Santhananangai, prepared a dish with the flesh of the head. The divine guest was invited for dinner. He wanted the Saint to call his son to keep company with. What would the Saint do? He and his wife went out of the house and called their son. By the grace of the Lord, Siralan came. But before they went in, Bhairava had disappeared, and appearing before them in Somaskanda form blessed them all.
38. CHERAMAN PERUMAL NAYANAR
In Kodungolur or Magothai of the Chera country, there lived a king called Cheraman Perumal. He was gifted with the art of understanding the speech of every being and hence he was popularly known by the name Kazharitru Arivar. He used to worship Lord Nataraja and on completion of worship he would hear the tinkling sound of the anklet of Lord Nataraja. One day he heard the sound very late. Becoming aggrieved, he wanted to put an end to his life. The Lord informed him that he was enamoured by and engrossed in the songs of Suntharar and hence he was late to grace him with the tinkling sound. On hearing this, Cheraman Perumal desired to meet Suntharar.
On the day of coronation, Cheraman went on procession in the royal streets and a washerman was coming. It rained and the fuller's-earth which he carried became wet and soaked. As the sun shone, it became dried up and the washerman looked as if he besmeared his body with the sacred Ash. The king
